


New Traditions

by Maxil_Gal



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 17:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13194903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maxil_Gal/pseuds/Maxil_Gal
Summary: I hope you guys want some Santa Vax cause you are getting some Santa Vax.





	New Traditions

Winter’s Crest. It had been long enough that Vex could get through the holiday with a smile on her face. For Percy, for the children. It was something she had done every year at the Crest, to reach out for her dear twin brother. But it never seemed to happen.   
The ravens helped through the holiday. They would descend onto Whitestone, roost in the tower for the clock, squawking and picking at crumbs left for them by the people.   
This year, the usual murder failed to arrive. People would search the skies for that familiar dark cloud but to no avail. It shook Vex deeply, no matter how much Percy tried to assure her that he would come, that the ravens never missed a year. By the eve of Winter’s Crest, his assurances fell onto deaf ears. No ravens, not even a straggly little crow. Percy had gone off to bed, managing to put all the children to sleep while Vex nursed little baby Titania (Percy loved calling her Lil’ Trinket). The windows were bolted shut to keep the rooms warm within the castle, and Vex put her dear babe to bed. There was a mobile spinning lazily above it, with bears and tigers and wolves and a very dear raven.   
She watched it turn, and everything seemed to turn into a dream as it spun. From beyond the veil of her consciousness, she watched as the bird fell from its hook, smashing into two small ceramic pieces on the floor.  
It took a second for the dread to well up inside, but no gasp of alarm left her. Her long, slender hands that had once held her brother now picked up the head and body of the bird. Even this raven couldn’t be in Whitestone. She cleaned the white powder off the floor and placed the pieces next to her bed. Sleep took her as she resigned herself to this sadness.

But it was not the end.

A cold wind woke her, leaving the curtains swaying from the winter breeze.   
“Percy, the baby!” She rushed from her covers to the crib at the foot of their bed. A head of white hair rose from the covers suddenly and moved quickly to the window. Titania slept soundly, not disturbed by the ruckus. And next to her was a small, soft bear toy. “Percy? Did you put this in Titania’s bed?”  
“No,” Percival shut the window, putting the latch back into place and walked to Vex’ahlia “I’ve never seen that before.” Before Vex could respond the cries of their children rang through the halls. They both sprinted to the main parlor, where toys lied unwrapped from bright paper on a table.  
“Father, father!” Little 5-year-old Keyleth was bouncing with joy, prancing around with a horse figurine, “Isn’t it wonderful?” Percival, their 7-year-old, was occupying himself with a small mechanical bird in his hands. “And there is one for you and mother as well!” Keyleth rushed over with their package and resumed playing. The two looked at each other with astonishment, and tore the paper open. In it was a single feather, black and shining in the crisp morning light of winter. It was carved from polished obsidian, and held a small, gilded thread loop at the base of the craft. Percy stared at it, puzzled but Vex could only smile. Smile at the sound of raven’s outside the window, at her children playing, and at the most wonderful gift her brother had ever given her.  
And for years and years, the children of Whitestone would receive presents from the Ravens, and they would hang ornaments from the sun tree and later on their own personal trees. And for generations, the lords of Whitestone would place a single ornament on their tree. A small, black feather carved from obsidian.   
And it was good.


End file.
